<<<<< Top 10 Expensive Accidents >>>>>

Subject: <<<<< Top 10 Expensive Accidents >>>>> 2008-11-21, 19:59

Top
10 Expensive Accidents

Top 10 Most

Expensive Accidents in History

Throughout
history, humans have always been prone to accidents. Some, such as the
exotic car crashes seen on this page, can be very expensive. But that's
trivial compared to the truly expensive accidents. An accident is
defined as "an undesirable or unfortunate happening that occurs
unintentionally and usually results in harm, injury, damage, or loss".
Our aim is to list the top 10 most expensive accidents in the history
of the world as measured in dollars.
This
includes property damage and expenses incurred related to the accident
such as cleanup and industry losses. Many of these accidents involve
casualties which obviously cannot be measured in dollar terms. Each
life lost is priceless and is not factored into the equation.
Deliberate actions such as war or terrorism and natural disasters do
not qualify as accidents and therefore are not included in this list.

#10. Titanic

$150 Million

The
sinking of the Titanic is possibly the most famous accident in the
world. But it barely makes our list of top 10 most expensive. On April
15, 1912, the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage and was considered to
be the most luxurious ocean liner ever built. Over 1,500 people lost
their lives when the ship ran into an iceberg and sunk in frigid
waters. The ship cost $7 million to build ($150 million in today's
dollars).

#9. Tanker Truck vs Bridge

$358 Million

On
August 26, 2004, a car collided with a tanker truck containing 32,000
liters of fuel on the Wiehltal Bridge in Germany. The tanker crashed
through the guardrail and fell 90 feet off the A4 Autobahn resulting in
a huge explosion and fire which destroyed the load-bearing ability of
the bridge. Temporary repairs cost $40 million and the cost to replace
the bridge is estimated at $318 Million.

#8. MetroLink Crash
$500 Million

On
September 12, 2008, in what was one of the worst train crashes in
California history, 25 people were killed when a Metrolink commuter
train crashed head-on into a Union Pacific freight train in Los
Angeles. It is thought that the Metrolink train may have run through a
red signal while the conductor was busy text messaging. Wrongful death
lawsuits are expected to cause $500 million in losses for Metrolink.

#7. B-2 Bomber Crash
$1.4 Billion

Here
we have our first billion dollar accident (and we're only #7 on the
list). This B-2 stealth bomber crashed shortly after taking off from an
air base in Guam on February 23, 2008. Investigators blamed distorted
data in the flight control computers caused by moisture in the system.
This resulted in the aircraft making a sudden nose-up move which made
the B-2 stall and crash. This was 1 of only 21 ever built and was the
most expensive aviation accident in history. Both pilots were able to
eject to safety.

The
crash was captured on video. It shows one B-2 Bomber successfully
taking off followed by the B-2 Bomber which crashes. The crash starts
at 2:00

#6. Exxon Valdez

$2.5 Billion

The
Exxon Valdez oil spill was not a large one in relation to the world's
biggest oil spills, but it was a costly one due to the remote location
of Prince William Sound (accessible only by helicopter and boat). On
March 24, 1989, 10.8 million gallons of oil was spilled when the ship's
master, Joseph Hazelwood, left the controls and the ship crashed into a
Reef. The cleanup cost Exxon $2.5 billion.

#5. Piper Alpha Oil Rig
$3.4 Billion

The
world's worst off-shore oil disaster. At one time, it was the world's
single largest oil producer, spewing out 317,000 barrels of oil per
day.. On July 6, 1988, as part of routine maintenance, technicians
removed and checked safety valves which were essential in preventing
dangerous build-up of liquid gas. There were 100 identical safety
valves which were checked. Unfortunately, the technicians made a
mistake and forgot to replace one of them. At 10 PM that same night, a
technician pressed a start button for the liquid gas pumps and the
world's most expensive oil rig accident was set in motion.

Within
2 hours, the 300 foot platform was engulfed in flames. It eventually
collapsed, killing 167 workers and resulting in $3.4 Billion in damages.

#4. Challenger Explosion

$5.5 Billion

The
Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed 73 seconds after takeoff due on
January 28, 1986 due to a faulty O-ring. It failed to seal one of the
joints, allowing pressurized gas to reach the outside. This in turn
caused the external tank to dump its payload of liquid hydrogen causing
a massive explosion. The cost of replacing the Space Shuttle was $2
billion in 1986 ($4.5 billion in today's dollars). The cost of
investigation, problem correction, and replacement of lost equipment
cost $450 million from 1986-1987 ($1 Billion in today's dollars).

#3. Prestige Oil Spill
$12 Billion

On
November 13, 2002, the Prestige oil tanker was carrying 77,000 tons of
heavy fuel oil when one of its twelve tanks burst during a storm off
Galicia, Spain. Fearing that the ship would sink, the captain called
for help from Spanish rescue workers, expecting them to take the ship
into harbour. However, pressure from local authorities forced the
captain to steer the ship away from the coast. The captain tried to get
help from the French and Portuguese authorities, but they too ordered
the ship away from their shores. The storm eventually took its toll on
the ship resulting in the tanker splitting in half and releasing 20
million gallons oil into the sea.

According to a report by the Pontevedra Economist Board, the total cleanup cost $12 billion.

#2. Space Shuttle Columbia

$13 Billion

The
Space Shuttle Columbia was the first space worthy shuttle in NASA's
orbital fleet. It was destroyed during re-entry over Texas on February
1, 2003 after a hole was punctured in one of the wings during launch 16
days earlier. The original cost of the shuttle was $2 Billion in 1978.
That comes out to $6.3 Billion in today's dollars. $500 million was
spent on the investigation, making it the costliest aircraft accident
investigation in history. The search and recovery of debris cost $300
million.
In
the end, the total cost of the accident (not including replacement of
the shuttle) came out to $13 Billion according to the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

#1. Chernobyl
$200 Billion

On
April 26, 1986, the world witnessed the costliest accident in history.
The Chernobyl disaster has been called the biggest socio-economic
catastrophe in peacetime history. 50% of the area of Ukraine is in some
way contaminated. Over 200,000 people had to be evacuated and resettled
while 1.7 million people were directly affected by the disaster. The
death toll attributed to Chernobyl, including people who died from
cancer years later, is estimated at 125,000. The total costs including
cleanup, resettlement, and compensation to victims has been estimated
to be roughly $200 Billion. The cost of a new steel shelter for the
Chernobyl nuclear plant will cost $2 billion alone. The accident was
officially attributed to power plant operators who violated plant
procedures and were ignorant of the safety requirements needed.

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